Morecambe 1 Bury 1

Morecambe continued their unbeaten pre-season campaign with a draw against League One side Bury.

An equaliser from Peter Murphy secured a draw for The Shrimps’ after a Ryan Edwards own goal had put the visitors in front in what was an entertaining friendly.

The game started brightly with Ellison having an effort blocked straight from the kick-off while Tom Soares fired over for Bury at the other end.

The visitors took the lead in the fourth minute when Morecambe defender Ryan Edwards headed the ball past his own keeper whilst attempting to clear a cross from Joe Riley. Bury had a good chance to go two up just minutes later when Roche was forced to put an effort from Danny Mayor over the bar.

The Shrimps’ came close to equalising in the 23rd minute when a ball from Shaun Beeley put Aaron Wildig through on goal, Wildig looked to have his shirt pulled by the defender and his shot was blocked by Walton in the Bury goal. Kevin Ellison then saw his effort from long range well-saved.

Goalkeeper Barry Roche made a fantastic double save in the 36th minute, the first from Hallam Hope and then the second with his feet from Danny Mayor’s follow up after the ball had deflected. At the other end Wildig forced a save from Walton with a shot on the turn and Peter Murphy was on hand to score his first goal in a Morecambe shirt from the resulting corner, scoring from close range to level the scores as half-time loomed.

Roche made another fantastic save from a Hallam Hope header at his near post and the whistle sounded shortly after to signal the end of an entertaining first half as the two teams went in level.

The second half began with chances for both sides, Ellison dragged a shot wide from just outside the box after a nice ball from Wildig and Tom Soares had a powerful effort well-held by Barry Roche. Leon Clarke was then denied a great goal by the woodwork from 25 yards, his shot coming back off the bar after having Roche well-beaten.

Manager Jim Bentley introduced a number of fresh faces as the half wore on, one of which nearly bore fruit shortly after when substitute Tom Barkhuizen broke upfield from a Bury free-kick and laid the ball off for Molyneux who curled a shot wide.

Both sides showed glimpses of promise in the closing stages but neither was able to make the breakthrough. The final whistle sounded to bring about the end of an interesting game and good run out for both sides.